Mr. Robot

Not the best ad but a damn good show.

While taking the subway in New York you get used to seeing ignoring all of the advertising that they throw up everywhere. It’s not bad enough that the cost of a subway ride is constantly going up. There are advertisements everywhere. I’ve seen transformations of entire subway carts aimed at getting you to use Youtube. Luckily, Mr. Robot did not go that far with their advertising. What they did put up was a somewhat rip-off of the Sega font for a title along with some relevant yet over hyped text covering the main characters face.

None of this made me want to watch the show. Someone at USA knew that advertising like this doesn’t work on everyone and decided to just release the first episode for free across many different video platforms (HULU… Note: It seems like they have taken down their other free viewings of the pilot. I assure you that I got my free copy from Amazon). This is a wonderful idea and every show should pretty much be doing this. Give them a taste and they will want more. It’s addictive.

As a result, word of mouth spread. My co-workers are serial TV drama whores and we are all trying to be the first to like the next big thing. They all checked out the pilot and were all highly recommending it. Being a huge fan of Hackers and computer culture, I decided to give it a shot. It’s damn good. USA Networks seems to be taking a cue from FX and is jumping head first into gritty territory. Aside from the show’s realistic approach to hacking and computer use in general, the characters have real problems. Sex, drugs and anxiety problems are a common theme.

Without going into too much detail… you should just watch this show. It’s well written, modern, and it’s narrative structure is a LOT easier to follow than True Detective Season Two. It’s also got a very likable and anti-social main character played by Rami Malek.